My Solar Eclipse Experience
I am very lucky, blessed, and fortunate that I was in 100% Totality zone for the eclipse back home in Western North Carolina. The place I work, Southwestern Community College, was the only community college in the country with a partnership with NASA for this eclipse. Our President was at Clingmans dome with the VIP of NASA, which is pretty cool in my opinion! So going into today’s events I knew it was going to be fun, blissful, and once in a lifetime moment. Around 20 minutes from Totality I noticed the temperature dropped significantly. It was broiling earlier so I was happy about this temperature change. When totality finally arrived I was overwhelmed with emotion I have a hard time putting it all into words honestly but I am going to do my best.
For me witnessing the eclipse made me think of how small I am in this big universe. It made me feel lifted in a sense emotionally and all I really could do was cry. Not for any specific reason just because crying was the only way to take it in honestly. Seeing something that extraordinary was breathtaking and for a moment it felt like everything just stopped. Like the world stopped spinning, problems didn’t exist, and everything felt possible and like it would be okay. For me it made me feel infinite. It was a very spiritual and emotional experience for me in so many ways that I know I will keep processing long after the sun goes down today.
Anybody who truly knows me knows that my faith is a big part of me. I am not a church goer, I have tattoos, and sometimes I say one too many curse words. However, at the beginning and end of every day my “faith” is my foundation. It is who I am and without it I would be nothing. Without my faith I have no idea where or who I would be, but I know I wouldn’t be the person I am right now.
When I say “faith” I am not necessarily talking about God, although that is who I associate my faith with. To me faith is not a religion but a way of being and thinking. It is belief that things get better when everything is going wrong. Belief that we can’t be the only ones in this great big universe. Belief that we truly have the power to create the life we want. Belief that things happen for a reason, even though we don’t always understand. Belief that there is life after death in some capacity. The biggest thing for me though is that faith gives me belief that my life has meaning and significance. That I was created and made the way I am for a reason. That I have experienced certain hardships to shape me into the person that I am, and will continue shaping me as more trials in life come. That my existence in this world is for a purpose and meaning.
I think the biggest way to know that our lives have meaning is that we are HERE and ALIVE. We are still breathing which means our lives still have meaning. However, this “meaning” in life is not always transparent. Sometimes you have to fight your inner demons to uncover the truth of who you are. You have to go searching for “your meaning of life” and see where you end up. I refer to this as “following where the wind blows me.” I am always on the search for the meaning and existence of “me”. Maybe it is because of my astrological sign (Sagittarius), maybe it is my personality, but mostly I think it is because it is a miracle I am still here. There have been so many times my life could have ended but God kept me alive and breathing for some reason. I owe it him and myself to find out and discover what that reason is. When everything is hard to understand in my world this concept is what I fall back on.
The eclipse today just reaffirmed my faith honestly. It made me think and feel like there are no limits in life and that anything is possible. I hope that no matter who you are, what your background is or what you believe in, that you have “faith” in something. I hope this because I have no idea how I could make it through most days without mine.
Whatever you are facing or going through please know that your life has meaning and that you are HERE for a reason and purpose.
Much love,
